OLIVER! had
its
premiere in London's West End at the New Theatre (now known as the
Albery)
on June 30, 1960 and ran for 2,618 performances, over six years,
making it
the longest running British musical til that
time. Among the cast
for this 1960 version were:

Oliver Twist:

Keith Hamshere

Fagin:

Ron Moody

Artful Dodger:

Martin Horsey

Nancy:

Georgia Brown

Bill Sikes:

Danny Sewell

Mr. Sowerberry:

Barry Humphries

Mrs. Corney:

Hope Jackman

Several years into that run, David Merrick acquired the American
rights and
launched a five-month pre-Broadway tour of eleven cities on August
6, 1962.
The original cast album was recorded in Hollywood,
California on August
19, 1962. While it was unusual at the time to put out an
original cast
album before a show opened on Broadway, in this case the show had
by then
had a successful multi-year run in London, and bootleg copies of
the London
album began showing up in the U.S., so in order to supply American
audiences
with the home grown version, the original cast Broadway album was
recorded
five months before the show opened on Broadway. It is
for this
reason that Michael Goodman appears on the album as the Artful
Dodger; by
the time the show opened on Broadway, this role had been taken
over by David
Jones (who later went on to be one of the Monkees) (although this
replacement
took place very late in the pre-Broadway tour, as a December 1962
Theatre
Arts magazine still listed Goodman in the cast.
Apparently he was
replaced because he grew too tall!)

Of the four performers from the original London cast who were also
in the
original Broadway cast (Georgia Brown, Barry Humphries, Danny
Sewell and
Hope Jackman), Danny Sewell stayed with OLIVER! the longest.
He began
his career as a boxer, turning professional on his 16th birthday,
but was
stricken with polio in 1947. Despite this, he fought 38
times and was
never defeated. His first stage role was ONE MORE RIVER; he
appeared
in the films SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING and THE
CRIMINAL. Update,
May 2001: I have heard from Danny Sewell's daughter, Laura,
who was
a young child while her father was in OLIVER! She gave
me the
sad news that he died in early May 2001 at the age of 70.
His credits
after leaving OLIVER! include THE HOMECOMING on Broadway, plus
EQUUS, THE
ELEPHANT MAN and other shows in New York and regionally. He
played
Joey, the younger son, in the 1971 Off-Broadway revival of THE
HOMECOMING
for which he won an Obie.

Barry Humphries
played Mr.
Sowerberry, the undertaker in the original London cast as well.
He
later achieved greater fame in his one-woman shows in drag as Dame
Edna Everage
(in fact, he was back on Broadway again as DAME EDNA in 1999, 2004 and 2010).
He played
Fagin in the 1967 London West End revival which costarred Marti
Webb as Nancy
and Phil Collins as the Artful Dodger. It ran for a further
331
performances (less than a year after the original production had
closed!);
Humphries returned to play Fagin again in the 1997 London
Palladium revival.

Alice Playten, who played Bet, went on to a considerable career in
New York
theatre. Her Broadway credits include her debut as Baby June in
the original
Ethel Merman version of GYPSY, HELLO DOLLY (as Ermengarde), GEORGE
M!, HENRY
SWEET HENRY (Tony nomination and Theatre World Award),
RUMORS and
SPOILS OF WAR (Drama Desk nomination). Off-Broadway she
starred in
PROMENADE and THE LAST SWEET DAYS OF ISAAC. She received an
Obie Award
for her performance as Mick Jagger in LEMMINGS and another Obie
for her portrayal
of Mamie Eisenhower in FIRST LADIES SUITE. She won a Clio
for her Alka
Seltzer TV commercial where she played a newlywed, giving her
husband (played
by Terry Kaiser) indigestion by feeding him "marshmallow meatballs
and poached
oysters". She played Mrs.
Mayor in SEUSSICAL
back on Broadway.

On January 6, 1963 OLIVER! opened on Broadway at the Imperial
Theatre during
a 15-week newspaper strike and ran for 774 performances, closing
on November
14, 1964. It then went on a nine-month tour and returned to
Broadway
at the Martin Beck Theatre for 64 more performances.
Simultaneously,
there was a second "bus and truck" company touring America.

Clive
Revill
replaced Ron Moody as Fagin on Broadway and was nominated for
a Tony Award but lost to Zero Mostel for FORUM.
Georgia
Brown was also nominated for a Tony in the role of Nancy but
lost to
Anna Quayle in STOP THE
WORLD. The show won three Tony awards:
one for Lionel
Bart's fabulous score, the second for Sean Kenny's amazing set and
the third
for conductor and musical director Donald Pippin.

Stanley Eichelbaum, writing about Sean Kenny's sets, lighting and
costumes
in Theatre Arts (December 1962): "The Dickensian
London conjured
up by Kenny for Oliver! is an extraordinarily mobile
tangle of wooden
stairs, impregnable doorways, slatted walls, narrow bridges and
murky, timbered
arches, set against a low-keyed backdrop of London's East End of a
century
ago. ... Below it is a triple turntable, electronically
controlled,
that shifts the setting between the various indoor and outdoor
locales in
full view of the audience." At each revolve, the set turned
into the
workhouse, a street market, a funeral parlor and Fagin's den,
among other
locations. Kenny is quoted: "What I visualized was a
great millwheel
-- an enormous turning thing -- with wooden beams, bridges across
streets,
heavy wooden doors." The set had to be built in London and
shipped
to Broadway because the American scenic designers' union wouldn't
accept
Kenny as a member. Between 1960 and 1970, Kenny designed the
sets for
32 West End productions, including four Lionel Bart shows, LOCK UP
YOUR DAUGHTERS
(1959), OLIVER (1960), BLITZ! (1962) and MAGGIE MAY (1964); in
addition,
he worked in television and film. He died June 11, 1973 at
the age
of 40.

I am indebted to John Groushko for the following image files of
Sean Kenny's
preproduction sketches:

John S. Wilson, reviewing the original cast album in Theatre
Arts
(December 1962): "Lionel Bart's zestful music and lyrics for
his adaptation
of Oliver Twist -- a potpourri of music hall songs, Threepenny
Opera atmosphere, Irma la Douce tunefulness and
amiable roguery
-- is sung with great flair by a cast that reaches heights of
brilliance
in Clive Revill's ripely theatrical Fagin and Georgia Brown's
lusty Nancy.
No musical has been projected so successfully on a disc
since
My Fair Lady."

My own experiences with OLIVER! began when it arrived at the
Forrest
Theatre in Philadelphia on its post-Broadway nine-month national
tour in
1965. I was just 18 , still in high school and had seen only
two other
shows, LA BELLE and THE
ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT -- THE SMELL OF THE CROWD; my
friends and I used
to hang out at the stage door before and after the Saturday
matinees. The
little boys who played the Workhouse Boys and Fagin's Gang were so
adorable,
my friends and I went back to the stage door every Saturday for as
long as
the show was in Philadelphia. At that time, the cast
included:

Robin Ramsey was only 26 when I saw him as Fagin; according to an
article
published in the Philadelphia Bulletin, it took him an
hour each
performance to apply makeup to age himself for the role.
Originally
from Australia, he took over the role on Broadway about a year
before the
show came to Philadelphia. At the time I saw it, he was
newly married
to Barbara Bossert, one of the original "Londoners", who had
changed her
name to Barbara Ramsey and was playing the Strawberry-Seller in
the WHO WILL
BUY number.

Maura K. Wedge was also a "Londoner" from the original cast, who
had understudied
Georgia Brown and finally won the role of Nancy. I later saw
her as
Dulcinea in a tour of MAN OF LA MANCHA.

In addition to being a "Londoner", Dominic Chianese was the
"wrangler" in
charge of the workhouse boys/Fagin's pickpockets and eventually
went on to
play Sowerberry, the undertaker;
Chianese went on to be a
regular on THE SOPRANOS, a HBO TV series about the Mafia.

George Priolo was one of the original boys and had previously
played Charlie
Bates, the only other named member of Fagin's gang.

Donnie Smiley, who played Bet, was the sister of Brett Smiley, one
of the
boys who eventually went on to play Oliver himself.

Joey Baio, one of the Workhouse Boys/Fagin's Gang, is the brother
of Scott
Baio (who went on to star as a child as BUGSY MALONE and had the
syndicated
TV series CHARLES IN CHARGE). Joey got to play the Dodger
when this
company of OLIVER! returned to Broadway.

Virginia Sandifur, another "Londoner", went on to the original
cast of FOLLIES
(where she created the role of Young Phyllis) and I also saw her
in GOOD
NEWS at Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey. She performed on
Broadway
in seven musicals, including starring roles in I LOVE MY WIFE,
RODGERS AND
HART, PERFECTLY FRANK and SMITH (opposite Don Murray). She
was also
a featured performer in COMPANY and co-starred with Lauren Bacall
as Eve
Harrington in the national tour of APPLAUSE. She appeared in
"Sondheim:
A Musical Tribute" on Broadway and the "Cy Coleman Tribute" at
Lincoln Center.
She also appeared in the National Tour of SIDE BY SIDE BY
SONDHEIM.
Continuing her Sondheim connection, she was featured in the
20th
Anniversary Celebration of FOLLIES at Lincoln Center. Her other
credits include
television, film, and concert performances.

[You are probably wondering why I am blathering on about some of
these relatively
obscure cast members, but it pleases me to recall these names from
long ago
and to point out that hard work and talent pay off, and you can
rise in the
pecking order from a lowly chorus part with not even a character
name in
the Playbill to a featured role.]

When this company of OLIVER! returned to Broadway in 1965 (a
balcony seat
for the Saturday matinee at the Martin Beck Theatre was only
$3.60!), the
cast included:

So, Victor Stiles was promoted from a Workhouse Boy/Fagin's Gang
member to
Oliver, Robin Ramsey's wife had left the cast; and Christopher
Month, one
of the original "boys" had returned to the cast.

Michael McCormick was promoted from a Workhouse Boy/Fagin's Gang
member to
a "Londoner". Amazingly, he cropped up in March, 2000 opposite
George
Wendt in an off-Broadway production called AN EMPTY PLATE IN THE
CAFE DU
GRAND BOEUF.

Perhaps it's the Millennium, but I've heard out of the blue, within
3 weeks,
from 3 people from my past, one of whom was Ricky Rosenthal, who was
one
of Fagin's kids in the first production I saw of OLIVER! in 1965. He
changed
his name to Richard Damien and is now a Reiki Master offering
spiritual healing,
counseling, life path readings, Reiki training, spiritual space
cleaning
and coaching for actors and singers. In 2006 he published a book
entitled
A MONK IN THE WORLD through iUniverse. After he left the
Broadway
production of OLIVER!, these are his credits:

OLIVER! (starring John Carradine)

Little Theatre on the Square,
Sullivan, IN

Oliver

CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA (starring Carrie Snodgress)

Goodman Theatre

Ptolemy

LAND OF THE STAGE

Second City

Various Roles

CINDERELLA (Rodgers & Hammerstein)

In the Round Dinner Playhouse

Lead Male Dancer

PINOCCHIO

Ramada Inn

Harlequin

BABES IN TOYLAND (National Tour 1975-76)

Theatre for Young Audiences

Simple Simon

YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN

Local Tour Chicago

Charlie Brown

THE FANTASTICKS

Chicago

Old Shakespearean Actor

In New York, Richard has appeared in the following:

MAGIC FINGERS, HIRED HANDS

Workshop

Eddie

DARYL, CAROL, KENNY, JENNY

Manhattan Theatre Club

Dr. Swizzel and Reporter

LULU (starring Barbara Loden)

Workshop

Hugo

Richard appeared in several New York nightclubs and cabarets,
including Chili
Etc., Brothers and Sisters and Don't Tell Mama where he last
appeared September
and October, 2001 in a cabaret act called NEWLY NEWLEY. . .
CELEBRATING THE
MUSIC OF ANTHONY NEWLEY.

I next saw OLIVER! in June of 1966 at the Valley Forge Music Fair (a
Saturday
matinee for only $3.75!), where it was done in a tent with a cast
that included:

So, Georgie Priolo had returned to the role of the Dodger and
Chris Month
was joined by two brothers as Workhouse Boys/Fagin's Gang.
Eugene Endon
had outgrown the role but his brother Anthony still carried on the
family
tradition.

I have a program from a Mineola Theatre production with Brett
Smiley as Oliver,
but I don't have a playbill, so it's possible that I didn't see
this show,
but my friend Janet Hill saw it and got me the program. It
is in this
production that Dominic Chianese played Mr. Sowerberry.

Sadly, Brett Smiley died at 60 in 2016, after an abortive career as a rock singer.

David Henesy who played one of the Workhouse Boys/Fagin's Gang was
a regular
on the supernatural soap opera DARK SHADOWS where he played David
Collins.

(OLIVER! was revived in England again in 1977 with Roy Hudd,
returning to
the Albery Theatre where the original show opened, and ran for two
and a
half years for an additional 1,139 performances.)

The next time I saw OLIVER! was a 1983 London revival at the
Aldwych (Saturday
evening for 12 pounds 50 pence) with the following cast:

Fagin

Ron Moody

Nancy

Jackie Marks

Bill Sikes

Linal Haft

Oliver

Anthony Pearson

The Artful Dodger

David Garlick

Mr. Bumble

Peter Bayliss

Mrs. Corney

Meg Johnson

Mr. Brownlow

Geoffrey Toone

Mr. Sowerberry

Richard Frost

Mrs. Sowerberry

Liz Moscrop

Charlotte

Samantha Shaw

Noah Claypole

Tony Carpenter

Bet

Marsha Bland

Bullseye

Hector

Ron Moody was the original Fagin in 1960 and recreated the role
for the big
budget 1968 film,
which
won six Oscars,
including
Best Picture of the Year.

In September 2007 I had an email out of the blue from
David Garlick, who
as you will
see below, also played the Dodger on Broadway in 1984. He
tells me
he went on to play The Artful Dodger in the
BBC adaptation in
1985 - and
appeared in the BAFTA-award winning short KURT, MUNGO, BP and ME,
(1984)
written by poet and ex- Scaffold band member Roger McGough.
He now
fronts British rock and roll band The Lowriders.

This is one of the few productions in which Bill Sikes' dog,
Bullseye, was
given a credit. The production was brought over to Broadway
and I saw
it in April of 1984 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre ($40 for first
row orchestra
center on a Wednesday evening) with the following cast:

.

Oliver Twist

Braden Danner

Fagin

Ron Moody

The Artful Dodger

David Garlick

Nancy

Patti LuPone

Bill Sikes

Graeme Campbell

Bullseye

Lydia, Buffy

Gregg Edelman was a "Londoner" in this production; he went on to
star in
CITY OF ANGELS (1990) and the Roundabout revival of 1776 for which
he won
the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.
He
was nominated for a Tony in 1993 for ANNA KARENINA.

All the productions I saw were directed by Peter Coe (the director
of the
original 1960 London version as well) except for the Mineola
Theatre
production and the one at the Valley Forge Music Fair which, being
done in
a tent, was also the only production not to use the wonderfully
intricate
set designed by Sean Kenny. This was a multilevel
architectural wonder
in the way that it revolved, "unfolded" and moved vertically and
horizontally
in the time it took the orchestra to play the music that changed
one scene
to another. Since OLIVER! was only the third show I had seen
at the
time I first saw it in 1965, I was less impressed with it than I
eventually
became by the time I saw the 1983 revival in London. There
was just
something about seeing OLIVER! in London with an entire cast of
authentically
British performers that was very magical as well.

There was a further London revival which opened December 5, 1994
at the Palladium
Theatre with the following cast (which was also recorded on an
original cast
album):

Fagin

Jonathan Pryce

Oliver

Gregory Bradley

Nancy

Sally Dexter

Bill Sikes

Miles Anderson

Mrs. Sowerberry

Julia Deakin

Mr. Sowerberry

David Delve

Widow Corney

Jenny Galloway

Mrs. Bedwin

Carmel McSharry

Mr. Bumble

James Saxon

Mr. Brownlow

James Villiers

Lionel Bart
was 28
when he wrote the book, music and lyrics to OLIVER! based on the
1838 Charles
Dickens classic OLIVER TWIST. (Bart had changed his last
name from
Begleiter when he was 24.) He had started out writing pop
tunes for
Tommy Steele (having been in a skiffle group called the Caveman
with him),
and had written two previous successful West End Shows, FINGS
AIN'T WOT THEY
USED T'BE (music and lyrics - 1957) and LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS
(lyrics -
1959). According to Rex Bunnett writing in The Musicals,
originally Bart was looking to create a vehicle to star Tommy
Steele
when he decided to adapt OLIVER TWIST, but that plan went out the
window
when Bart limited the show to the early part of the book that also
formed
the basis for the successful 1948 David Lean film. By the
time OLIVER!
opened on Broadway, Bart had 3 hit shows running simultaneously in
London,
OLIVER!, LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS and BLITZ (music and lyrics).
He died
April 4, 1999.

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD

When I first saw OLIVER! my heart sank when the curtain went up
because the
stage was so dark and dismal and also because for a while, I
suspected the
entire show would be sung like an operetta. However, now
that I have
seen the show many times, the opening is possibly my favorite
part. The
"dark and dismal" set and lighting are totally appropriate for the
workhouse
where the orphan boys sing their rousing anthem to food:

Is it worth the waiting for?
If we live 'til eighty-four
All we ever get is gru...el!
Ev'ry day we say our prayer --
Will they change the bill of fare?
Still we get the same old gru...el!
There's not a crust, not a crumb can we find,
Can we beg, can we borrow, or cadge,
But there's nothing to stop us from getting a thrill
When we all close our eyes and imag...ine

Food, glorious food!
Hot sausage and mustard!
While we're in the mood
Cold jelly and custard!
Pease pudding and saveloys!
What next is the question.
Rich gentlemen have it, boys:
In-di-gestion!

Food, glorious food!
What is there more handsome?
Gulped, swallowed or chewed --
Still worth a king's ransom!
What is it we dream about?
What brings on a sigh?
Piled peaches and cream, about
Six feet high!

Food, glorious food!
Eat right through the menu.
Just loosen your belt
Two inches and then you
Work up a new appetite.
In this interlude --
Then food,
Once again, food
Fabulous food,
Glorious food!

Food, glorious food!
What wouldn't we give for
That extra bit more --
That's all that we live for.
Why should we be fated to
Do nothing but brood
On food,
Magical food,
Wonderful food,
Marvellous food,
Fabulous food,
Beautiful food,
Glorious food!

Writing in OPEN A NEW DOOR (2001), Ethan Mordden says:
"There was no
overture. After a bit of quaint fanfare, the curtain rose on . . .
the workhouse.
To anxious altered chords, an underling opened a gate as
orphan boys
filed in to take their places at table. A vamp punctuated by
woodblock
strokes led to FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD."

OLIVER!

Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle, enters. (The dictionary
defines a beadle
as an inferior parish officer in England having a variety of
duties, as the
preservation of order in church service, the chastisement of
petty
offenders, etc.) He is accompanied by the Widow Corney, the
Workhouse
Mistress. Mr. Bumble hands out the day's meagre food to the
boys.
When he signals the boys they can start eating, they wolf
down the
food to the tune of OLIVER. When they finish, Oliver
requests a second
helping. Click
here
for 30-seconds of OLIVER!

MR. BUMBLE:

For what you are about to receive
May the Lord make you truly thankful.

BOYS:

Amen.

OLIVER:

Please, Sir, I want some more.

MR. BUMBLE:

What?

OLIVER:

Please, Sir, I want some more.

MR. BUMBLE:

More!

WIDOW CORNEY:

Catch him!

MR. BUMBLE:

Snatch him!

WIDOW CORNEY:

Hold him!

MR. BUMBLE:

Scold him!

WIDOW CORNEY:

Pounce him!
Trounce him!
Pick him up and bounce him!

MR. BUMBLE:

Wait!
Before we put the boy to task
May I be so curious as to ask
His name?

BOYS:

O-li-ver

WIDOW CORNEY AND MR. BUMBLE:

Oliver! Oliver!

MR. BUMBLE:

Never before has a boy wanted more!

MR. BUMBLE AND WIDOW CORNEY:

Oliver! Oliver!

MR. BUMBLE:

Won't ask for more when he knows what's in store.
There a dark, thin, winding
Stairway without any bannister
Which we'll throw him down, and
Feed him on cockroaches
Served in a canister

ALL:

Oliver! Oliver!

MR. BUMBLE:

What will he do
When he's turned black and blue?
He will curse the day
Somebody named him

ALL:

O-li-ver!

MR. BUMBLE AND WIDOW CORNEY:

Oliver! Oliver!

MR. BUMBLE:

Never before has a boy wanted more!

MR. BUMBLE AND WIDOW CORNEY:

Oliver! Oliver!

WIDOW CORNEY:

He won't ask for more
When he knows what's in store.

MR. BUMBLE:

There's a sooty chimney
Long overdue for a sweeping out
Which we'll push him up,
And one day next year
With the rats he'll be creeping out!

ALL:

Oliver! Oliver!

MR. BUMBLE:

What will her do
In this terrible stew?
He will rue the day
Somebody named him...

ALL:

O-li-ver!

I SHALL SCREAM

Click
here
for 30-seconds of I SHALL SCREAM. Oliver is dragged off as Bumble and the Widow do a bit of
courting. When
the beadle sneaks a kiss, the Widow protests:

WIDOW CORNEY:

Mr. Bumble, I shall scream!

MR. BUMBLE:

No, you wouldn't, heigh-ho.
If I wanted something special,
Then you couldn't say "no".
Did I nearly catch you smiling?
Yes I did, and it's beguiling.
If your hand is close, I'll press it.
Yes, you like it -- come confess it!
Yes, you do.

WIDOW CORNEY:

No, I don't.

MR. BUMBLE:

Yes, you do!

WIDOW CORNEY:

I shall scream! I shall scream!
Til they hasten to my rescue, I shall scream.

MR. BUMBLE:

Since there's nobody that's near us
Who can see us or can hear us,
If I ask you can I kiss you
Say what will my pretty miss do?

WIDOW CORNEY:

I shall scream, scream, scream!

MR. BUMBLE:

If I pinch you one pinch --
From you shy protective shell,
Can I un-inch you one inch?
Will my blithesome, buxom beauty
Let her suitor do his duty?
Though his lap ain't very large, dear
Sit upon it -- there's no charge, dear.
Will you sit?

WIDOW CORNEY:

No, I shan't

MR. BUMBLE:

Will you sit?

WIDOW CORNEY:

I shall scream! I shall scream!
For the safety of my virtue I shall scream.
Though your knee is rather cozy,
See my cheeks are getting rosy.
You would have me in your power.
If I sat here for an hour.

MR. BUMBLE (gasping under her weight):

I shall scream, scream, scream!

WIDOW CORNEY (getting off his lap):

You're a naughty bad man,
If you think I can't be proper,
Prim and haughty -- I can
And you'll pardon if I mention
You must state your true intention. How?

MR. BUMBLE:

Is there not another room here?

WIDOW CORNEY (regretfully):

No.

MR. BUMBLE:

If there were a bride and groom here --
Would there be?

WIDOW CORNEY:

Well, there might.

MR. BUMBLE:

We shall see.

WIDOW CORNEY:

I shall scream! I shall scream!
At the thought of what you're thinking,
I shall scream!

MR. BUMBLE:

You will wonder where that scream went
When we come to an agreement.
As my lovey-dove is chubby,
Could she love a chubby hubby?

Oliver is brought to Mr. Bumble with all his worldly belongings in
a small
bundle. Bumble takes him off to sell, singing:

One boy,
Boy for sale.
He's going cheap.
Only seven guineas.
That or thereabouts.

Small boy,
Rather pale
From lack of sleep.
Feed him gruel dinners;
Stop him getting stout.

If I should say he wasn't very greedy,
I could not, I'd be telling you a tale.
One boy,
Boy for sale.
Come take a peep.
Have you ever seen
As nice a boy for sale?

THAT'S YOUR FUNERAL

Mr. Bumble takes Oliver to the undertaker's parlor of Mr. and Mrs.
Sowerberry
and sells him into indentured servitude for 5 pounds.
Sowerberry intends
to use Oliver as a coffin follower. We learn Oliver's full
name is
Oliver Twist, named by Mr. Bumble when his mother died in
childbirth.
Sowerberry puts a top hat on Oliver and is pleased with the
effect.
Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from THAT'S YOUR FUNERAL.

Writing in OPEN A NEW DOOR (2001) Ethan Mordden claims that Barry
Humphries,
who played Mr. Sowerberry, "proved to be so intriguingly
Dickensian that
Bart wrote THAT'S YOUR FUNERAL especially for him. It's a
piece of
comic guignol."

MR. BUMBLE:

He's a born undertaker's mute:
I can see him in his black silk suit
Following behind the funeral procession
With his features fixed in a suitable expression.
There'll be horses with tall black plumes
To escort us to the family tombs,
With mourners
In all corners
Who've been taught to weep in tune.

Then the coffin lined with satin.
That's your funeral.

MRS. SOWERBERRY:

That's your funeral.

SOWERBERRY:

Large enough to wear your hat in.
That's your funeral.

MRS. SOWERBERRY:

That's your funeral.

SOWERBERRY:

We're just here to glamorize you for that
Endless sleep.

MR. & MRS. SOWERBERRY:

You might just as well look fetching
When you're six feet deep.

MRS. SOWERBERRY:

At the wake we'll drink a toddy
To the body beautiful.

MR. SOWERBERRY:

That's your funeral.

MRS. SOWERBERRY:

Not our funeral.

MR. & MRS. SOWERBERRY:

That's your funeral.

SOWERBERRY:

If you're fond of overeating
That's your funeral.

MRS. SOWERBERRY:

That's your funeral.

SOWERBERRY:

Starve yourself by undereating
That's your funeral.

MR. BUMBLE:

That's my funeral.

MRS. SOWERBERRY:

Visualize the earth descending on you clod by clod.
You can't come back when you're buried
Underneath the sod.

MR. & MRS. SOWERBERRY:

We will not reduce our prices.
Keep your vices usual.

SOWERBERRY:

That's your funeral

MRS. SOWERBERRY:

Not our funeral.

ALL:

That's your funeral.

MR. BUMBLE:

I don't think this song is funny.

SOWERBERRY:

That's your funeral.

MR. BUMBLE:

Here's the boy, now where's the money?

SOWERBERRY:

That's your funeral.

MRS. SOWERBERRY:

That's your funeral.

MR. BUMBLE:

That's your funeral.

SOWERBERRY:

We don't harbour thoughts macabre,
There's no need to frown

MR. & MRS. SOWERBERRY:

In the end we'll either burn you up or nail you down.
We love coughs and wheezes
And diseases called incurable.
That's your funeral.
No one else's funeral.

SOWERBERRY:

That's your...

MRS. SOWERBERRY:

That's your...

MR. & MRS. SOWERBERRY:

Funeral!

WHERE IS LOVE?

Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

Oliver is given some scraps to eat and then is left alone to sleep
among
the coffins. He sings:

Where is love?
Does it fall from skies above?
Is it underneath the willow tree
That I've been dreaming of?
Where is she
Who I close my eyes to see?
Will I ever know the sweet "hello"
That's meant for only me?

Who can say where she may hide?
Must I travel far and wide?
'Til I am beside the someone who
I can mean something to.
Where,
Where is love?

Who can say where she may hide?
Must I travel far and wide?
'Til I am beside the someone who
I can mean something to.
Where,
Where is love?

The next morning Noah Claypole arrives for work; he calls Oliver
"Workhouse"
and rags him about his mother, goading Oliver into a fight.
Oliver
winds up in a coffin, which Noah and the Sowerberries sit upon.
They
get Mr. Bumble, who tries to intimidate Oliver to no avail.
Bumble blames
the Sowerberries for feeding him meat. Bumble lets Oliver
out of the
coffin and he manages to run away.

CONSIDER YOURSELF

A week later Oliver is walking along Paddington Green. The
Dodger comes
by, dressed in a top hat and an oversized overcoat, and sizes up
the runaway.
The Dodger offers Oliver lodgings with a "respectable old
gentleman"
named Fagin. They introduce themselves, Dodger as Jack
Dawkins to his
"hintimate" friends, which upon reflection, he realizes he doesn't
have. Click
here
for 30 seconds of CONSIDER YOURSELF.

DODGER:

Consider yourself at home.
Consider yourself one of the family.
We've taken to you so strong,
It's clear we're going to get along.
Consider yourself well in.
Consider yourself part of the furniture.
There isn't a lot to spare.
Who cares? Whatever we got we share!

If it should chance to be
We should see
Some harder days,
Empty-larder days,
Why grouse?
Always a chance we'll meet
Somebody to foot the bill,
Then the drinks are on the house!
Consider yourself our mate.
We don't want to have no fuss,
For after some consideration, we can state
Consider yourself
One of us!

Consider yourself...

OLIVER:

At home?

DODGER:

Consider yourself...

OLIVER:

One of the family?

CAPTAIN:

We've taken to you

OLIVER:

So strong?

DODGER:

It's clear we're

BOTH:

Going to get along.

DODGER:

Consider yourself...

OLIVER:

Well in?

DODGER:

Consider yourself...

OLIVER:

Part of the furniture?

BOTH:

There isn't a lot to spare!
Who cares?
Whatever we got we share.

DODGER:

Nobody tries to be lah-di-dah and uppity.
There a cup o'tea for all.
Only it's wise to be handy wiv' a rolling pin
When the landlord comes to call!

BOTH:

Consider yourself
Our mate.
We don't want to have no fuss,
For after some consideration we can state
Consider yourself
One of us!

COMPANY:

Consider yourself at home.
We've taken to you so strong.
Consider yourself well in.
There isn't a lot to spare

If it should chance to be
We should see
Some harder days --
Empty-larder days --
Why grouse?
Always a chance we'll meet
Somebody to foot the bill --
Then the drinks are on the house!

Consider yourself our mate.
We don't want to have no fuss,
For after some consideration, we can state
Consider yourself
One of us!

Consider yourself at home.
Consider yourself one of the family.
We've taken to you so strong,
It's clear we're going to get along.

Consider yourself well in,
Consider yourself part of the furniture.
There isn't a lot to spare.
Who cares? Whatever we got we share!

If it should chance to be
We should see
Some harder days,
Empty-larder days,
Why grouse?
Always a chance we'll meet
Somebody to foot the bill,
Then the drinks are on the house!

Consider yourself our mate.
We don't want to have no fuss,
For after some consideration, we can state
Consider yourself
One of us!

YOU'VE GOT TO PICK A POCKET OR TWO

Dodger takes Oliver to meet Fagin. Oliver notices all the
handkerchiefs
hanging up and wonders if Fagin runs a laundry. Fagin says
his line
of business pays a little better. With the help of his boys, Fagin
demonstrates.

The boys hand over the day's takings to Fagin. Fagin tries
to teach
Oliver the art of picking a pocket and rewards him with sixpence.
Oliver's
now got sixpence, a home and a profession.

The next morning while the boys are all asleep, Fagin takes a box
from a
trapdoor in the floor; this is his miser's hoard, which he gloats
over.
His little pleasure: "a cup of coffee and a quick
count-up".
Oliver wakes up and sees him, to Fagin's displeasure; he
sends Oliver
off for a wash while he hides his treasure again.

Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

In the opening night review in the HERALD TRIBUNE, Walter Kerr
wrote:
"Clive Revill starts . . . off rather interesting with
fastidious
speed, taking snuff and strutting with a cane in a jaunty
cock-of-the-walk
rhythm. . . "

FAGIN:

Let's show Oliver how to do it, my dears. You see,
Oliver,
In this life, one thing counts:
In the bank, large amounts!
I'm afraid these don't grow on trees,
You've got to pick a pocket or two.
You've got to pick a pocket or two, boys,
You've got to pick a pocket or two.

BOYS:

Large amounts don't grow on trees.
You've got to pick a pocket or two.

FAGIN:

Why should we break our backs
Stupidly paying tax?
Better get some untaxed income:
Better pick a pocket or two.
You've got to pick a pocket or two, boys,
You've got to pick a pocket or two.
Sing, boys!

BOYS :

Why should we all break our backs?
Better pick a pocket or two.

FAGIN :

Charlie, take your hat off while you're in class!

Robin Hood, what a crook:
Gave away all he took.
Charity's fine, subscribe to mine.
Get out and pick a pocket or two.
You've got to pick a pocket or two, boys,
You've got to pick a pocket or two.

BOYS:

Robin Hood was far too good.
Get out and pick a pocket or two.

FAGIN:

Watch the beat, boys!

Take a tip from Bill Sikes:
He can whip what he likes.
I recall, he started small;
He had to pick a pocket or two.
You've got to pick a pocket or two, boys,
You've got to pick a pocket or two.

BOYS:

We can be like old Bill Sikes
If we pick a pocket or two.

FAGIN:

Pay attention!

Dear old gent passing by,
Something nice takes his eye.
Everything's clear, attack the rear!
Get in and pick a pocket or two.
You've got to pick a pocket or two, boys,
You've got to pick a pocket or two.

BOYS:

Have no fear, attack the rear.
Get in and pick a pocket or two.

FAGIN:

When I see someone rich,
Both my thumbs start to itch.
Only to find some peace of mind
I have to pick a pocket or two.
You've got to pick a pocket or two, boys,
You've got to pick a pocket or two.

BOYS:

Just to find some peace of mind

FAGIN AND BOYS:

You have to pick a pocket or two!

IT'S A FINE LIFE

Nancy and Bet arrive; Nancy swigs gin, which she calls a small
pleasure.
Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

NANCY:

Small pleasures, small pleasures,
Who would deny us these?
Gin toddies -- large measures --
No skimping if you please!
I rough it. I love it.
Life is a game of chance.
I'll never tire of it --
Leading this merry dance.
If you don't mind having to go without things,
It's a fine life!

ALL :

Fine life!

NANCY :

And though it ain't all jolly old pleasure outings,
It's a fine life!

ALL:

Fine life!

NANCY:

When you've got someone to love,
You forget your cares and strife.
Let the prudes look down on us.
Let the wide world frown on us.
It's a fine, fine life!

BET and NANCY:

Who cares if straightlaces
Sneer at us in the street?
Fine airs and fine graces

NANCY:

Don't have to sin to eat.

BET and NANCY:

We wander through London
Who knows what we many find?
There's pockets left undone
On many a behind.

NANCY:

If you don't mind taking it like it turns out,
It's a fine life!

ALL:

Fine life!

NANCY:

And keep the candle burning until it burns out.
It's a fine life!

ALL:

Fine life!

NANCY:

Though you sometimes do come by
The occasional black eye,
You can always cover one
While he blacks the other one,
But you don't dare cry.

BET:

No flounces, no feathers,
No frills and furbelows.
All winds and all weathers
Ain't good for fancy clothes.

NANCY:

These trappings,

BET:

These tatters,

BET and NANCY:

These we can just afford.

NANCY:

What future?

BET:

What matters:

BET and NANCY:

We've got our bed and board.

NANCY:

If you don't mind having to deal with Fagin,
It's a fine life!

ALL:

Fine life!

NANCY:

And though diseased rats threaten to bring the plague
in,
It's a fine life!

ALL:

Fine life!

NANCY:

But the grass is green and dense
On the right side of the fence.
And we take good care of it
That we get our share of it

ALL:

And we don't mean pence!

BET and NANCY:

If you don't mind having to like or lump it,
It's a fine life!

ALL:

Fine life!

NANCY:

Though there's no tea-sippin' and eatin' crumpet,
It's a fine life!

ALL:

Fine life!

NANCY:

Not for me, the happy home:
Happy husband, happy wife.
Though it sometimes touches me,
For the likes of such as me,
Mine's a fine.

ALL:

Fine life!

I'D DO ANYTHING

Nancy and Bet are introduced to Oliver. Nancy says no one
knows how
a gentleman of quality acts, "except Dodge." Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

NANCY:

All right, all right, 'ow does it go now, Dodge?
It's all bowin' and 'ats off and --

DODGER:

And "don't let your petticoat dangle in the mud, my
darling."

NANCY:

And I'll go last.

DODGER:

No, no, I'll go last.

NANCY:

I'll go last.

DODGER:

I'd do anything,
For you, dear, anything,
For you mean ev'rything to me.
I know that
I'd go anywhere,
For your smile, anywhere,
For your smile ev'rywhere I'd see.

Oliver, you do everything you saw 'im do, and I'll tell
you all the words you don't know, alright?

OLIVER:

I'd do anything

NANCY:

For you, dear,

OLIVER:

For you, dear, anything

NANCY:

For you mean

OLIVER:

For you mean everything to me.
I know that
I'd go anywhere,
For your smile, anywhere,
For your smile ev'rywhere I'd see

BET:

Would you lace my shoe?

OLIVER:

Anything!

BET:

Paint your face bright blue?

OLIVER:

Anything!

BET:

Catch a kangaroo?

OLIVER:

Anything!

BET:

Go to Timbuctoo?

OLIVER:

And back again!
I'd risk ev'rything
For one kiss -- ev'rything --
Yes, I'd do anything

BET:

Anything?

OLIVER:

Anything for you!

DODGER:

Come on, Fagin!

FAGIN:

Would you rob a shop?

ALL:

Anything!

FAGIN:

Would you risk the "drop"?

ALL:

Anything!

FAGIN:

Though your eyes go pop

ALL:

Anything!

FAGIN:

When you come down plop?

ALL:

Hang ev'rything!
We'd risk life and limb
To keep you in the swim.
Yes, we'd do anything!

FAGIN:

Anything?

ALL:

Anything for you.

NANCY:

Oliver, you do everything you saw 'im do, and I'll tell
you all the words you don't know, alright?

OLIVER:

I'd do anything

NANCY:

For you, dear,

OLIVER:

For you, dear, anything

NANCY:

For you mean

OLIVER:

For you mean everything to me.
I know that
I'd go anywhere,
For your smile, anywhere,
For your smile ev'rywhere I'd see

BET:

Would you lace my shoe?

OLIVER:

Anything!

BET:

Paint your face bright blue?

OLIVER:

Anything!

BET:

Catch a kangaroo?

OLIVER:

Anything!

BET:

Go to Timbuctoo?

OLIVER:

And back again!
I'd risk ev'rything
For one kiss -- ev'rything --
Yes, I'd do anything

BET:

Anything?

OLIVER:

Anything for you!

DODGER:

Come on, Fagin!

FAGIN:

Would you rob a shop?

ALL:

Anything!

FAGIN:

Would you risk the "drop"?

ALL:

Anything!

FAGIN:

Though your eyes go pop

ALL:

Anything!

FAGIN:

When you come down plop?

ALL:

Hang ev'rything!
We'd risk life and limb
To keep you in the swim.
Yes, we'd do anything!

FAGIN:

Anything?

ALL:

Anything for you.

BE BACK SOON

Fagin sends the boys out to pick pockets, with Oliver under the
Dodger's
watchful tutelage. Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

FAGIN:

Good luck on your first job, Oliver, my dear. I shall be
waiting for you 'ere when you come back.

You can go, but be back soon.
You can go, but while you're working
This place, I'm pacing 'round
Until you're home, safe and sound.

Fare thee well, but be back soon.
Who can tell where danger's lurking?
Do not forget this tune: be back soon.

BOYS:

How could we forget
How could we let
Our dear old Fagin worry?
We love him so,
We'll come back home
In, oh, such a great big hurry.

DODGER:

It's him that pays the piper.

BOYS:

It's us that pipes his tune.
So long, fare thee well,
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon.

FAGIN:

You can go but be back soon.
You can go, but bring back plenty
Of pocket handkerchieves;
And you should be clever thieves.
Whip it quick, and be back soon.
There's a sixpence here for twenty:
Ain't that a lovely tune?
Be back soon.

DODGER:

Our pockets'll hold
A watch of gold
That chimes upon the hour.

BOYS:

A wallet fat
An old man's hat
The crown jewels from the tower.
We know the Bow Street Runners,

DODGER:

But they don't know this tune:

ALL:

So long, fare thee well.
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon.

FAGIN:

Cheerio, but be back soon.
I dunno, somehow I'll miss you.
I love you, that's why I
Say, "Cheerio"
Not goodbye.

Don't be gone long
Be back soon.
Give me one long last look, bless you.
Remember our old tune: be back soon!

BOYS:

We must disappear,
We'll be back here,
Today, perhaps tomorrow.
We'll miss you too
It's sad but true
That parting is such sweet sorrow.

And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this whispered tune:
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon.

FAGIN:

BOYS :

Cheerio, but be back soon.
I dunno, somehow I'll miss you
I love you, that why I
Say, "Cheerio"
Not goodbye.

Don't be gone long
Be back soon.
Give me one long, last look, bless you.
Remember our old tune:
Be back soon!

We must disappear,
We'll be back here,
Today, perhaps tomorrow.
We'll miss you too;
It's sad but true
That parting is such sweet sorrow.

And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this whispered tune:
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon.

And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this whispered tune:
So long, fare thee well,
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!

BOYS and FAGIN:

We'll be back soon.

DODGER:

So long, fare thee well,
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon.

BOYS:

So long, fare thee well,
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!

BOYS and FAGIN

We'll be back soon

DODGER:

So long, Fagin.

FAGIN:

Dodger, if you happen to pass the Tower of London,
have a look at the Crown Jewels, won't you, boy?

DODGER:

Alright, ta ra!

Out on the street, Mr. Brownlow's pocket is picked by one of the
boys and
Oliver is mistakenly accused, chased and captured for the Act I
cliffhanger.

OOM-PAH-PAH

At the Three Cripples public house that evening, as the customers
drink and
have a raucous good time, the landlord calls upon Nancy to sing
the "old
school song". Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

NANCY:

All right! All right! 'Ere we go then!

There's a little ditty
They're singin' in the city,
Especially when they've been
On the gin or the beer.
If you've got the patience,
Your own imaginations
'll tell you just exactly what you want to hear:

They all suppose what they want to suppose
When they hear oom-pah-pah!

Mister Percy Snodgrass
Would often have the odd glass --
But never when he thought anybody could see.
Secretly he'd buy it,
And drink it on the quiet,
And dream he was an Earl
Wiv' a girl on each knee!

Pretty little Sally
Goes walkin' down the alley,
Displays a pretty ankle to all of the men.
They could see her garters,
But not for free and gratis --
An inch or two, and then
She knows when to say when!

She was from the country,
But now she's up a gum-tree --
She let a feller feed 'er, and lead 'er along.
What's the use o' cryin'?
She's made a bed to lie in.
She's glad to bring a coin in,
And join in this song!

There's a little ditty
They're singing in the city
Especially when they've been
On the gin or the beer.
If you've got the patience,
Your own imaginations
'll tell you just exactly what you want to hear:

ALL:

Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah!
That's how it goes,
Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah!
Ev'ryone knows:
They all suppose what they want to suppose
When they hear oom-pah-pah!

MY NAME

At the end of Nancy's song, Bill Sikes, her boyfriend enters.
The place
grows quiet, as he carries with him a strong air of menace.
Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

Some gent, slumming wiv' his valet,
Bumped into me in an alley.
Now is eyes'll never tally;
He'd never heard of my name!

One bloke used to boast a claim
He could take my name in vain.
Poor bloke, shame 'e was so green;
Never was 'e seen again!

Once bad -- what's the good of turning?
In hell, I'll be there a-burning;
Meanwhile, think of what I'm earning
All on account of my name!

What is it? What is it? What is it? My name!

AS LONG AS HE NEEDS ME

Dodger and the boys rush into the pub to explain how Oliver was
nicked but
absolved in court and taken to the Bloomsbury home of the
gentleman whose
pocket was picked. Fagin and Sikes are worried that Oliver
might talk,
Sikes threatens Nancy until she agrees to retrieve Oliver.
Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

NANCY:

As long as he needs me -
Oh, yes, he does need me -
In spite of what you see,
I'm sure that he needs me.

Who else would love him still
When they've been used so ill?
He knows I always will
As long as he needs me.

I miss him so much
When he is gone,
But when he's near me
I don't let on

The way I feel inside,
The love I've got to hide.
The hell! I've got my pride
As long as he needs me.

He doesn't say the things he should.
He acts the way he thinks he should.
But all the same, I'll play
This game his way.

As long as he needs me,
I know where I must be;
I'll cling on steadfastly
As long as he needs me.

As long as life is long,
I'll love him right or wrong,
And somehow, I'll be strong
As long as he needs me.

If you've been lonely
Then you will know
When someone needs you,
You love them so.

I won't betray his trust
Though people say I must.
I've got to stay true just
As long as he needs me.

WHO WILL BUY?

At Mr. Brownlow's house, Oliver, cleaned up amid unaccustomed
luxury, looks
out of the window to see street sellers. Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

ROSE-SELLER:

Who will buy my sweet red roses?
Two blooms for a penny.
Who will buy my sweet red roses?
Two blooms for a penny.

MILKMAID:

Will you buy any milk today, mistress?
Any milk today, mistress?

ROSE-SELLER:

Who will buy my sweet red roses?

MILKMAID:

Any milk today, mistress?

ROSE-SELLER:

Two blooms for a penny.

STRAWBERRY-SELLER:

Ripe strawberries, ripe!
Ripe strawberries, ripe!

STRAWBERRY-SELLER

MILKMAID:

ROSE-SELLER:

KNIFE GRINDER:

Ripe strawberries, ripe!

Any milk today, mistress?

Who will buy my sweet red roses?

Knives, knives to grind!
Any knives to grind?
Knives, knives to grind!
Any knives to grind?
Who will buy?

STRAWBERRY-SELLER:

Who will buy?

MILKMAID:

Who will buy?

ROSE-SELLER:

Who will buy?

OLIVER:

Who will buy this wonderful morning?
Such a sky you never did see!

ROSE-SELLER:

Who will buy my sweet red roses?

OLIVER:

Who will tie it up with a ribbon
And put it in a box for me?

STRAWBERRY-SELLER:

Ripe strawberries, ripe!

OLIVER:

So I could see it at my leisure,
Whenever things go wrong,
And I would keep it as a treasure
To last my whole life long.

MILKMAID:

Any milk today?

OLIVER:

Who will buy this wonderful feeling?
I'm so high I swear I could fly.

KNIFE GRINDER:

Knives! Knives to grind!

STRAWBERRY-SELLER:

Ripe strawberries, ripe!

OLIVER:

Me, oh my! I don't want to lose it
So what am I to do
To keep the sky so blue?
There must be someone who will buy...

LONG SONG SELLER:

Who will buy?

KNIFE GRINDER:

Who will buy?

MILKMAID:

Who will buy?

ROSE-SELLER:

Who will buy?

ALL:

Who will buy this wonderful morning?
Such a sky you never did see!
Who will tie it up with a ribbon
And put it in a box for me?

There'll never be a day so sunny,
It could not happen twice.
Where is the man with all the money?
It's cheap at half the price!

Who will buy this wonderful feeling?
I'm so high I swear I could fly.
Me, oh my! I don't want to lose it
So what am I to do
To keep the sky so blue?

OLIVER:

There must be someone who will buy

ROSE-SELLER:

Who will buy my sweet red roses?
Two blooms for a penny!

Brownlow has noticed a likeness between Oliver and his daughter
Agnes.
Brownlow has some books to be returned to a bookseller and
decides
to send Oliver on this errand. When Oliver emerges from the
house,
Nancy pretends he's her little brother. Oliver doesn't want
to go with
her, but Sikes appears, grabs him and takes him back to Fagin's.

REVIEWING THE SITUATION

Continuing Walter Kerr's description of Clive Revill in the
opening night
review in the HERALD TRIBUNE: "He springs to his hiding
place, clutches
his treasures, and measures his pearls like so many yards of
muslin, a jeweler's
glass in his eye."

Things don't seem to be going well, with Nancy finally standing up
to Bill,
and the threat that Oliver might have told Brownlow where Fagin
and his
pickpocket gang live. Fagin stops to take stock. Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

A man's got a heart, hasn't he?
Joking apart -- hasn't he?
And though I'd be the first one to say that I wasn't a saint,
I'm finding it hard to be really as black as they paint.

I'm reviewing the situation:
Can a fellow be a villain all his life?
All the trials and tribulation!
Better settle down and get meself a wife.
And a wife would cook and sew for me,
And come for me, and go for me,
And go for me and nag at me,
The fingers she will wag at me.
The money she will take from me.
A misery, she'll make from me...
I think I'd better think it out again!

A wife you can keep, anyway;
I'd rather sleep, anyway.
Left without anyone in the world,
And I'm starting from now,
So how to win friends and to influence people?
So how?

I'm reviewing the situation:
I must quickly look up ev'ryone I know:
Titled people -- with a station --
Who can help me make a real impressive show!
I will own a suite at Claridges,
And run a fleet of carriages,
And wave at all the duchesses
With friendliness, as much as is
Befitting of my new estate...
"Good morning to you, magistrate!" (beat)
I think I'd better think it out again.

So where shall I go -- somebody?
Who do I know? Nobody!
All my dearest companions
Have always been villains and thieves.
So at my time of life I should start
Turning over new leaves?

I'm reviewing the situation:
If you want to eat -- you've got to earn a bob!
Is it such a humiliation
For a robber to perform an honest job?
So a job I'm getting, possibly,
I wonder who the boss'll be?
I wonder if he'll take to me?
What bonuses he'll make to me?
I'll start at eight and finish late,
At normal rate, and all, but wait!
I think I'd better think it out again.

What happens when I'm seventy?
Must come a time, seventy.
When you're old, and it's cold
And who cares if you live or you die?
The one consolation's the money
You may have put by.

I'm reviewing the situation:
I'm a bad 'un and a bad 'un I shall stay!
You'll be seeing no transformation,
But it's wrong to be a rogue in ev'ry way.

I don't want nobody hurt for me,
Or made to do the dirt for me.
This rotten life is not for me.
It's getting far too hot for me.
Don't want no one to rob for me.
But who will find a job for me.
There is no in between for me,
But who will change the scene for me?
I think I'd better think it out again!

At the end of this wonderful comic/poignant number, when Fagin
sings "but
who will change the scene for me", the terrific Sean Kenny stage
begins to
revolve into the setting for the next scene.

Widow Corney has married Mr. Bumble to his everlasting regret.
Old
Sally wishes to make a dying confession to the workhouse Matron.
Sally
admits she robbed Oliver's mother on her deathbed of a golden
locket.
Learning that Oliver comes from a rich family, the Bumbles
set out
to find him. Bumble winds up at the home of Mr. Brownlow who
has advertised
for Oliver's return; Bumble gives him the locket which turns out
to be a
likeness of Brownlow's daughter, Agnes.

Nancy shows up at Brownlow's and confesses her part in kidnapping
Oliver,
letting slip she had taken him to Fagin's. Brownlow promises
not to
have Nancy watched or followed and she promises to bring Oliver to
him that
night at midnight on London Bridge.

AS LONG AS HE NEEDS ME (REPRISE)

Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.

NANCY:

He doesn't act as though he cares,
But deep inside I know he cares,
And that is why I'm tied
Right by his side.

As long as he needs me
I know where I must be
But, will he never see
That someone else needs me?

As long as life is long,
I'll love him - right or wrong,
But he's so big and strong
And someone else needs me:

A child with no one to take his part.
I'll take his part, Bill,
But cross my heart
I won't betray your trust
Though people say I must.
My heart will stay true just
As long as Bill needs me.

That night Nancy sets out with Oliver but runs into Sikes He
kills
her (discreetly out of view of the audience; beating her to death
with his truncheon) and her body falls from London Bridge.
Brownlow
appears in time to see Sikes disappearing with Oliver. He
discovers
Nancy's body and calls for help. Sikes takes Oliver to
Fagin's just
as Brownlow is describing him to the police, who identify him as
Bill Sikes.
Someone in the crowd spots Bill's dog and, angry at the
death of the
popular Nancy, they set off after it. Sikes appears on the
roof with
Oliver bound in a rope, threatening to kill the boy. A
policeman shoots
Sikes, who falls. Oliver is rescued and taken to Mr.
Brownlow. The
police nab Dodger, who loudly protests. Another policeman
carts off
Fagin's loot.

REVIEWING THE SITUATION (REPRISE)

Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.
Penniless
and homeless, Fagin emerges from under the bridge and sings:

All my bosom companions and treasures --
I've left them behind.
I'll turn a leaf over, and who can tell what I may find?

The curtain comes down on Act II to raise again for the Finale,
which is
a reprise of FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD. At the end of this, Mr.
Brownlow,
Bet and Oliver come out with a huge hamper of food. Oliver
says, "Help
yourself, lads!" as the boys all cheer.

FINALE

There follows a reprise of CONSIDER YOURSELF and I'D DO ANYTHING.
Click
here
for a 30-second soundbyte from the original Broadway cast album.